GENRE: LN

The St. Peter's Seaside Cemetery, Kadeshwari Marg, near Mount Mary’s Steps, was established more than a century ago, around 1906. It serves a sizeable population of Catholics, concentrated in Bandra. It is an active cemetery and large numbers of Catholics have their graves here. About 50 burials take place every year. On 2nd January 2023, the Joint Municipal Commissioner – Zone III, served a 7-day Notice on St. Peter’s Church, under Sec 299 of the MMC Act 1888, intimating the take-over of a section of our cemetery for road-widening of 9.15 meters, including about 10 graves and the compound wall.…

The hybrid work model, a combination of work from home and from office, has had a major impact on house rents in Bengaluru. Lakhs of IT professionals and their families, who had shifted out of the city during the pandemic and were working remotely from their respective hometowns, are now back and looking for affordable homes on rent. High demand for rented accommodation Homeowners, sensing an opportunity to recoup what they had lost during the pandemic, have jacked up their rents to unprecedented levels. Gated communities and standalone buildings across Bengaluru are seeing overwhelming demand for rented accommodation, especially home…

Three years ago Shoaib (24) followed Aisha (21, name changed) on Instagram, she followed him back. He was from Nasik and she lived in Ghatkopar. Each was curious about the other, the attraction soon turned into a conversation and then many conversations. Unafraid of losing him, Aisha revealed a crucial detail at the very beginning of what would become a life-long commitment between the two—she had tuberculosis (TB). Six months after this, when Shoiab told his family about his intention to marry Aisha, it was only expected that her health condition would cause concerns. "I said, 'So what if she…

The Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) was passed by the Karnataka Assembly, in December 2022, to unify all public transport under one umbrella. Part 1 looked at the roles and functions of the BMLTA. In Part 2, we will look at several concerns raised over BMLTA's lack of participatory planning and appropriate devolution of power to a lower level. Citizens and urban transport activists had voiced their concerns over passing the Bill. The primary issue was the lack of inclusive decision-making. 74th amendment act In a letter to B. A Basavaraj, Minister of Urban Development Department and B. Sriramulu,…

In his budget speech on February 17th, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stated that quality of life in Bengaluru would improve “by ensuring seamless mobility, developing roads, prevention of floods by developing storm water drains and designing scientific and efficient waste management systems.” While such physical infrastructure is undoubtedly important for the well-being of a city, social infrastructure such as housing and health are equally crucial for improving the standard of living. In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the gaps in budget allocations to BMTC and education. In Part 2, we will look at how the budget focuses…

The Karnataka government budget for 2023-24 was predicted to be a pre-election gift to Bengaluru. However, it is a gift that not everyone approves of. The majority of the funding is being given to roads and related infrastructure. Meanwhile, education, health, housing sectors, and other bodies like the BWSSB and the BMTC are set to see another year of neglect. In his budget speech on February 17th, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced a whopping Rs 9,698 crore grant for the comprehensive development of Bengaluru. A majority of these funds are going into construction and repair of city infrastructure, primarily roads.…

The Karnataka Budget for 2023-24, presented by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, primarily focuses on the comprehensive development of Bengaluru, combatting traffic congestion, tackling floods, managing waste disposal, developing the sub-urban railway project, and providing affordable healthcare services. Bommai had earlier said that his government's top priorities are education, employment and empowerment and that he was committed to easing traffic in the city. These aspects were highlighted in the budget. Economic revival In his budget speech, the Chief Minister stressed that the state's economy has "recovered beyond pre-COVID level" as per the 2021-2022 numbers by the National Statistical Office. Quoting the…

Another legislation. Another new Authority called the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA). Ostensibly designed for the regulation of development, operation, maintenance, monitoring, and supervision of urban mobility, within what the bill calls the Urban Mobility Region, by unifying all the different public transport entities into one overarching body. The BMLTA is just two months old, but has been given its first assignment. The detailed project report of the contentious Sankey Road flyover project, which is strongly opposed by citizens and mobility experts, was handed over to the young BMLTA for evaluation of the feasibility of the project. Its first…

Four persons lost their lives in 2022 in accidents caused primarily due to poor maintenance of lifts in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). About 25 instances of malfunctioning of lifts were reported. Around one lakh lifts are installed across the MMR and apart from the serious accidents. Elevators have become a crucial part of the housing infrastructure with buildings registering large-scale vertical growth to cater to the huge housing demand. Even the slum redevelopment buildings, that are being built, have 40-70 floors, which pose a different set of challenges. Despite the regulations, lift accidents are far too common. Pic: Adam…

On January 4, a lift accident at Vikhroli claimed the life of a 20-year-old labourer of a 25-story building at Vikhroli, when the lift crashed from the 21st floor. Two persons died when the cord of their lift trolley snapped from the 15th floor at a Worli tower on January 9. Three months ago, a 5-year-old child, Mohammed Huzifa Shaikh lost his life on November 28, 2022 when he got stuck between the wooden door and the grill door between the fourth and the fifth floor of his Dharavi building. Another child, 16-year-old girl Reshma Khairavi, lost her life, when…